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Durban - Hundreds
of paddlers turned out on Addington Beach once again at the Borland
Surfski Challenge to watch race six of the 2017 Surfski
Series.

Hank McGregor notched up his fifth win from six
races when he continued to show why he is arguably the best ocean
paddler in the world at the moment.

"I had a bit of a hiccup near the start when I got into a clash with
another boat going around the first buoy," McGregor mentioned after his
win.

"There was a knock of paddles as we rounded the buoy and I got flipped out so I must have lost about 30 or 40 places!

"I really had to work hard after that and managed to catch back to the front guys after about three quarters of the first lap."

It was a slog for the defending series champion McGregor who had to wind
his way through the field in order to catch the contenders and in a
live display of McGregor's tenacity he was not happy to settle when he
reached the front paddlers.

"I got to Matthew (Bouman) at the end of the first lap and sat with him
for a little bit and then managed to get ahead of him over the last lap
and get my fifth win of the series, which I am really happy about!

"It was great to have Matthew back this week to strengthen up the field
so to get a win against such a strong group is always satisfying.

"It was phenomenal that we had some international paddlers out here, especially Emil from Sweden!" McGregor added.

With an overall series win in sight, McGregor needs one more win over
the next four legs to wrap up yet another series title and his series
clinching win could come as soon as Tuesday at the Lettie Paddle Surfski
Challenge.

The ladies series took another dramatic turn on Friday evening, with Bridgitte Hartley edging out team mate Hayley Nixon for her
third win of the series and an overall series lead going into the final
four races.

Hartley's win sees her move ahead of Nixon, who has two wins to her
name, and Michelle Burn, who has one win, into the outright lead
however, with four races left and unpredictable weather conditions
Hartley will be under pressure to maintain her advantage.

Hartley took the race honours ahead of her nearest rivals Nixon in second and Burn in third.

In what was probably the performance of the race the mixed duo of Luke
Nisbet and Jenna Ward
took the overall race honours ahead of McGregor.

The pair started the series slowly but have got into their stride and
showed their class in a double ski by pipping Hank McGregor to the line.

The ever-popular novice-friendly 4km short course proved to be a family
affair yet again with a number of family doubles rising to the top of
the result sheet.

The pair of Zoog and Ty Haynes were the first across the line ahead of
Dylan Bridges and Eugene Swanepoel with the Swart duo of Justin and
Stefan finishing the race in third place.

Nick Park-Ross returned to take his third win in the stand-up
paddleboarding category ahead of Brandan Read and Shayne Chipps while
Jackie de Billot won the ladies SUP category.

With the Dusi Canoe Marathon taking place from Thursday to Saturday
next week the Lettie Paddle Surfski Challenge will take place on
Tuesday, February 14 rather than Friday evening.

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